Lampedusa: A Novel

By Steven Price

SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2019 SCOTIABANK GILLER PRIZE

From the #1 nationally bestselling author of By Gaslight, a novel of exquisite emotional force about love and art in the life of one of the great writers, reminiscent of Colm Tóibín's The Master, or Michael Cunningham's The Hours.

In sun-drenched Sicily, among the decadent Italian aristocracy of the late 1950s, Giuseppe Tomasi, the last prince of Lampedusa, struggles to complete the novel that will be his lasting legacy, The Leopard. With a firm devotion to the historical record, Lampedusa leaps effortlessly into the mind of the writer and inhabits the complicated heart of a man facing down the end of his life, struggling to make something of lasting worth, while there is still time.

Achingly beautiful and elegantly conceived, Steven Price's new novel is an intensely moving story of one man's awakening to the possibilities of life, intimately woven against the transformative power of a great work of art.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Release date: Aug 27, 2019
• ISBN: 9780771071423

Steven Price

Steven Price’s previous novel, By Gaslight, was shortlisted for the CWA Historical Dagger, longlisted for the Giller Prize, and named a Book of the Year by NPR, CBC, and the Toronto Globe and Mail. He is the award-winning author of one other novel, Into that Darkness, and two collections of poetry. He lives in Victoria, British Columbia, with his family.

Reviews for Lampedusa

[k6gst · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Quite good

[gypsysmom_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This may be the only shortlisted book for the Giller Prize that I read before the ceremony. There are a few others that I would be interested in but they have huge hold lists at the library and I'm not wealthy enough to buy 5 new hardcover books. So I can't compare this book to the rest of the candidates but it is wonderfully written and I hope it wins.Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa was an Italian Prince who grew up on Sicily not on the island of Lampedusa that was his family's birthright. Lampedusa doesn't sound like it was very hospitable being composed of volcanic rock with no source of fresh water on the island. The family's fortunes declined from year to year and when several villas were destroyed in World War II hardly anything was left. Guiseppe had fought for Italy in World War I, was taken prisoner and then escaped just before the Armistice. He made his way back to Sicily where he seemed to spend his time reading and reviewing books, particularly English literature. He travelled with his mother and alone until he met Alessandra Wolff von Stomersee, a Baltic German noblewoman. She was married at the time but the marriage was unhappy; Price hints that the husband was a homosexual. Eventually Guiseppe and Alessandra (nicknamed Licey) married but she continued to live in Riga and Guiseppe mostly stayed in Sicily with his mother. During World War II Licey made her way across war-torn Europe to Sicily. Licey and her mother-in-law did not get along. After the war was over the Princess insisted on living in the bombed out villa where she died. An idea for a book came to Guiseppe after his doctor told him he had emphysema (now it would be called COPD) and that if he wanted to have a longer life he should stop smoking. Instead of following this advice he kept smoking and wrote a book which he called Il Gattopardo. In English the title has been translated as The Leopard and the book is considered one of the finest works of modern Italian literature. But Guiseppe got rejections from two publishers that he submitted it to and he died before it was finally accepted by another publisher.I have not read The Leopard but after reading this book I feel like I should. Price is obviously a fan and the structure of this book follows the structure of the Leopard. The writing is marvelous and the plot has some interesting devlopments. As a side note Price is married to Esi Eduygan who won the Giller Prize in 2011 for Half-Blood Blues. I hope their mantel piece is big enough to hold all the awards these two win.

[iudita_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Steven Price is becoming one of my favourite authors. I love his writing which I find so elegant, and he is a master at creating setting and atmosphere. He has the ability to transport me right into the book and he did that many times over the course of this novel. Lampedusa is one of the reading hi-lights of my year.